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On Friday, April 7th, The Westchester Library System (WLS) hosted a breakfast at Doral Arrowwood in Rye Brook as an event to celebrate libraries all around Westchester.

The event started off in a lovely, large event room where breakfast was served to the attendees. As mostly everyone had arrived, guests were greeted with an opening speech by WLS Executive Director Terry Kirchner. Terry shortly after focused his attention on the event’s Honoree.

The DAE’s President & CEO Rob Kissner was recognized by Westchester Library System and County Executive Rob Astorino for ongoing collaboration and support for libraries all over the county. Rob as well as other DAE Staff members were in attendance to see him accept his various awards including a Proclamation from the county of Westchester stating that April 7th shall henceforth be recognized as Rob Kissner day.

After Rob’s recognition, guest speaker and Etched in Sand author Regina Calcaterra gave an audience-attention-grabbing speech about her childhood and how integral of a role libraries and other public facilities played in her life.

All in all the event was a huge success largely in part by those who attended to support WLS. It is also important to recognize all of those who work for libraries in Westchester and beyond for their time and dedication to maintaining these sacred public properties.

So you’re just getting back into the swing of things after February Break and just starting to get back to your routine and now you have to figure out what to do with your kids during Spring Break. If you’re not going away, you still have to work while your kids are out of school, so what can do you?

Well, your kids can stay home all day and play video games or they can come to a Spring Break Boot Camp at The Digital Arts Experience and create something amazing!

From LEGO animation and 3D printing, to video game programming with Scratch or Python, we’ve got programs for all ages and all skill levels. And with half and full day options, as well as our super flexible drop-in schedule, we make planning your week easy knowing that your kids are in a safe, fun and exciting learning environment.

Programs run from April 11-14th. To find out more visit the TheDAE.com or give us a call at (914) 644-8100.

After School & Saturday STEAM Programs for Kids in Westchester, NY at The Digital Arts Experience (The DAE).

NEW CLASSES

We strive to stay cutting edge, which is why we’ve introduced new classes this Spring including: Tabletop Game Design, It’s Alive! Bringing Monsters to Life with Blender, Product Design & more!

FLEXIBLE SCHEDULES

Enroll in either 6 or 12 weeks of a course. Weekday programs are 90 minutes long, weekend are 2 hours.

CREATE SOMETHING AMAZING

Our programs follow DAE curriculum designed with STEAM fields in mind. We want our students to have fun all while learning the most up to date digital arts and technology skills!

Starting March 7th, we will be offering a whole new set of youth programs. From 3D Printing to Animation, have your child explore their creative interests in one of our after school or weekend programs.

North Salem Students 3D Print Local Landmarks

Over the past six weeks, The Digital Arts Experience (The DAE) has been teaching 3D Printing to students ages 10-12 at the Ruth Keeler Memorial Library in North Salem, NY. The class used their new knowledge of 3D printing to create miniature replications of local historical buildings.

“This class puts a unique spin on our normal 3D Printing with Minecraft class. Working with the town of North Salem, we secured blueprints and drawings of a number of historical buildings in town, and the students were challenged to use Minecraft to create 3D models based on the drawings,” says Rob Kissner, President of The DAE.

Buildings modeled thus far include Delancy Hall, Croton Fall School House and Briddleside in addition to others. After receiving the blueprints, students went to work in Minecraft’s Creative Mode to map and build out each structure. Minecraft makes for an excellent modeling tool because every block is the same size, making it simple to build to scale. It’s a natural fit with kids because they don’t need to learn an abstract CAD program, but rather can use a program they are comfortable and confident with. DAE instructors love using Minecraft in a class setting because it’s accessible; building in Creative Mode is all about exploring, planning, creating and collaborating.

“I was amazed at how intricate their projects were. They all took their time to pay attention to each detail to ensure their models were accurate,” said Lory Murariu, an instructor from The Digital Arts Experience. “This project really challenged the students to think critically about the blueprints they were given and how to convert them into 3D models for print.”

Last week, The DAE took models that the students designed in Minecraft and 3D Printed them at the Makerspace inside their White Plains facility. With five 3D Printers, The DAE has created thousands of hours of student work.

The DAE hosts after school, weekend and summer STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts & math) programs for kids and teens ages six and up. They hold classes at their White Plains location and also send instructors throughout Westchester to teach programs at various locations. To learn more about what The DAE can teach at your school or organization, visit: https://www.thedae.com/schools.

Let’s face it — kids can take a Scratch Programming class in many different places throughout Westchester County, or do the Hour of Code from home. There are a million and one ways to learn about 3D printing, computer programming or animation. You get the picture… And so do we.

But there’s the thing: experience. Meaningful learning is all about the experience. Knowledge retention happens when a person can put emotion behind the skills they learn.

Think about driving. Someone can show you or tell you how to drive all day long while you’re in the passenger’s seat, but until you get in the driver’s seat, get your hands on the wheel, put on your blinker, run over a few curbs and get pulled over for speeding, you really don’t learn very much. (We don’t encourage speeding, by the way! It was a metaphor…)

At the DAE, students drive. They get their hands on the tech. They try to go too fast and run into problems. We teach our kids about failure and how not to panic when something goes wrong — about how glitches are good because they teach us what we need to fix. We encourage thoughtfulness and problem solving, discussion and thinking outside the box.

Our world is so fast. It’s easy to throw information at people (especially kids) and expect them to get it. (Those kids with their iPads just know how to do all the things!) Classes at the DAE are different. They’re inclusive. They’re project-based. And they’re fun! We invite you to visit us and find out why.

Things to do for kids in Westchester: Minecraft Tournament this weekend at The DAE

This weekend on Saturday, January 14th at The Digital Arts Experience we are hosting our first Minecraft tournament of 2017. This time around we are doing things a bit different. Now you’ll have 1 of 3 time slots slots to choose from:

Just like our previous tournaments, we’ll give you categories to choose from and you’ll get 1 hour in creative mode to build as best as possible! Prizes will include awesome 3D printed objects, gift certificates and more!

Got any questions about our Minecraft Tournament? Here’s a time lapse from one of our bigger tournaments a couple of years ago:

Feel free to give us a call at (914) 644-8100 or e-mail us questions at info@TheDAE.com. And as always you can visit our website at TheDAE.com.